


All the small (fuzzy, googly eyed) things

by neckspike



Category: Kamen Rider Build
Genre: Fluff, Gift Fic, Inspired by a meme, worm on a string - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-14 03:02:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15379275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neckspike/pseuds/neckspike
Summary: Grocery shopping can be an ordeal when your country is at war. Sawa's connections and resourcefulness usually mean she can find special requests anyway.





	All the small (fuzzy, googly eyed) things

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for Dales (@hazardlevel on Twitter) bc they wanted art trades of Misora + Worm on a string. I can't draw worth a shit but then I thought about Sawa and Misora having the "You want anything from the store?" "Worm on a string" conversation and it kinda took off from there. Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> I love the basement crew and the weird little family they've formed.

Nascita was quiet in the morning, the sunlight still weak and thin as it slowly crept between buildings into the little back alley where the cafe lived. Sawa had finished checking the cabinets and was seated on a stool finishing her grocery list when Misora shuffled down the stairs in her ruffled nightgown and bunny slippers. The ponytail on top of her head bobbed in its scrunchie as she shuffled to the fridge with her eyes closed, retrieving a bottle of juice entirely by memory.

“Good morning.” Sawa said. Misora made a vague noise of acknowledgment and sat down across from Sawa, struggling to open the juice bottle.

“I’m going shopping, do you want anything from the store?” Sawa asked. Misora wiped the damp bottle cap on her sleeve, managing to open it this time before taking a big glug.

“Worm on a string.” Misora said flatly.

“The little fuzzy things with the googly eyes, looks like a big pipe cleaner got surprised?”

“Yeah. Worm on a string.” Misora confirmed, and knocked back the rest of her juice. “They’re cute.”

“Worm on a string.” Sawa agreed, and added it to the bottom of her list. “I’ll see if I see any.”

Sawa tucked her list into her purse and headed out into the world to buy and/or scavenge groceries. Misora put her head down and went back to sleep with her head on her arm.

* * *

The early afternoon sun was bright and clear when Banjou carried in the last of the groceries from Sawa’s car. He closed the tailgate with his foot and pivoted through the cafe’s open door, heading for the counter where Sawa and Sento were unpacking the bags and boxes.

“Protein~ Ramen~ Best match~” Banjou sang to himself as he set the last load down. An entire unopened case of Protein Ramen and a smaller, unmarked box.

“I lucked out getting that ramen. It’s getting hard to find, so try to make it last a while.” Sawa admonished. The war had badly disrupted trade and distribution, so finding specialty products like Ryuga’s favorite Protein Ramen was unreliable at best. Some stores operated relatively normally despite reduced selections. Scalpers were rampant, buying up in demand items and reselling them at impromptu markets in lots or vacant buildings. Ryuga rolled his eyes at her in an ‘OK, Mom’ type of way.

“What’s in here?” Banjou picked up the smaller box and gave it a curious shake, it was extremely light and produced a soft shuffling noise. It had obviously been opened before and the flaps were haphazardly tucked into each other to keep it shut.

“Oh, that’s for Misora.” Sawa said, still sorting the dry goods based on where they’re stored. Banjou opened the box and looked inside. He lifted out a big handful of brightly colored long fuzzy things, falling this way and that like so much neon spaghetti.

“Why does she want like a million wiggly squigglies?” He asked, squinting at the fuzzy worms as though their little googly eyes might hold answers.

“I think she just wanted one, but I happened onto a whole box so… Y’know.” Sawa said in a tone that implied everyone could relate to wanting to buy one small toy and ending up buying a thousand of them. Sento stood up from behind the counter where he’d been putting the dry goods away. Banjou untangled the last of the worms and dropped them back in the box before folding the flaps back in.

“So… where did you even get an entire box of magic worms?” Sento asked, leaning on the counter.

“There’s a little corner store down on 3rd street, across from that park? The capsule machines out front got crushed by rubble, so the old lady that owns the place sold me the box cheap since she can’t use them.” Sawa said, her bright tone belying the footwork she’d actually put in to find it.

“I see…” Sento looked doubtful, but let it drop and grabbed a couple cereal boxes. The trick refrigerator swung open, and Misora emerged into the cafe.

“Anything else for the basement?”

“That’s it, but that box is for you.” Sawa indicated the worm box with a motion of her head. Misora gave her a curious look but moved to open it. Banjou hid his smile.

“No way!” Misora exclaimed, the box opened to expose the rainbow of worms inside. “I can’t believe you found these. You didn’t have to get so many!” She picked each color out in turn, and held them up by the little card the string was wrapped around.

“That’s just how it worked out. Hope it’s okay they’re the small ones.” Sawa said, smiling at Misora’s delight.

“No, they’re great.” Misora said emphatically, her smile practically blinding. “Thank you so much, Sawa!”

_Definitely worth ten dollarks to see her light up like that._ Sawa thought.

“Worm~ String~ BEST MATCH~” Misora sang as she skipped up the stairs with her new treasures.

* * *

The sun was fading when Sawa ascended the stairs to the second floor. The upstairs part of the cafe was small, just two bedrooms and a bathroom. Granted, a much nicer bathroom than the one in the basement. And the bedrooms were roomy, even if Soichi’s stood empty at the moment. She knocked twice on the door to the room Misora had invited her to share.

“Come in!” Misora replied.

“Misora, dinner’s almost ready.” Sawa said as she stepped through the door and stopped short.

The room was awash in color. Vibrant worms in a rainbow of hues were hanging from the ceiling, crawling up the walls, climbing the sides of the vanity mirror, and peeking from corners. The hanging worms were even varied, some hanging down and some cleverly tied, so they were climbing back up their threads or looking around.

“I’m almost done, I’ll be ready in a second.” Misora said. She was adding some worms to her Mii-tan outfit that was hung up neatly on a hook on the wall. A purple worm peeked out of the overall pockets, a green one was wrapped around the stuffed carrot. She was working a pink one into the scrunchie, it’s face and tail peeking out of the front.

Sawa crossed the room, turning to take it all in. She bumped into the bed and sat down, putting her hand down next to the last remaining worms. She looked down and picked them up out of the spread of odds and ends and art supplies.

There were four worms left. One was red with a little cowlick styled with glue and safety goggles made of wire. A blue one had 3 little “braids” made of yarn bits and a scrap of plaid flannel wrapped around its middle. The pink one had a little top ponytail with a tiny scrunchie made of a pipe cleaner and little bunny slippers made of felt and tiny pom poms.

The last one was yellow. It had a little wig of brown yarn in a rough bob cut, and a skirt made from a small piece of floral printed fabric.

It was the sweetest thing Sawa could remember seeing in a long time, maybe ever. This little worm family of misfits and throwaways, and it included her. Her chest was tight and her eyes stung with the effort of restraining sudden tears.

“Sorry, I kind of made a mess.” Misora said, causing Sawa to start.

“Oh! No, I was just-- you made these? They’re really cute.” Sawa stammered.

“Yeah. I know it’s a little silly but, it was nice to do something fun and frivolous for a little while.” Misora’s smile was shy and a little embarrassed. She took the Sento worm from Sawa’s hand. “I was putting them up and I noticed this little guy had some glue on him, and it kinda looked like Sento’s hair when he’s excited. So I got the scrap box out and made him some little goggles…” She trailed off.

“And if you have a Sento, he needs a Banjou.” Sawa prompted, holding up the blue worm. Misora chuckled and covered her mouth.

“Yeah, and they’re kinda hopeless on their own so…” Misora wiggled the pink Misora worm, then placed it back in Sawa’s hands next to the yellow one. “And she needed a good friend.” She said, smiling fondly. Sawa’s heart clenched, and she couldn’t stop herself from lurching up to wrap her arms around Misora.

“That’s too sweet, I can’t take it!” Sawa’s words made Misora laugh as she returned the hug.

“I’m glad you like it! I thought you might be annoyed by, well, all this.” She gestured at the new worm decor. Sawa shook her head emphatically. “I dunno why, but when I look at them I feel a little happy. Everything’s been so, just, you know? Sometimes it’s nice to see something happy, even if it’s just a small thing.” Misora continued. She took the worm family and put the four of them down together on the vanity top, comfortably settled between a makeup case and a jar of cotton balls.

“Well, there ought to be enough small things in here to keep you happy for a long time then.” Sawa winked and Misora stuck her tongue out at her.

“I’m hungry. What’s for dinner?” Misora said as she headed for the stairs.

“We have spaghetti, which is probably done now, and fresh berries for afterwards.” Sawa looked back at the room as she closed the door and smiled, softly.

Ten dollarks buys a lot of small things, she thought. And it had been well worth it to see Misora so happy and smiling despite everything going on in her life.


End file.
